Bishop Anthony
M. Pilla Justifies Fr. Smiga’s Future-Church Sponsored Presentation Which
Plainly Claimed The First Church Had No Altar, No Sacrifice and No priests!

by David
Webster

7/3/04

In a stunning two
page letter received July 1, Bishop Anthony Pilla tells me he finds no fault in
Fr. Sigma’s 6/8/04 presentation at John Carroll University! Clearlyattempting to dodge yet
another serious responsibility ourBishop claims what Fr. Smiga actually
said was not what he meant to say! What Fr. Smiga said in his
conclusion that there was no priest, no altar, no sacrifice, and no Mass in
the first Church was wholly consistent with what he said throughout his
presentation! Nowhere does Fr. Smiga even hint what our Bishop has
attempted to read into this, that the first Church was merely not aware of these
elements of Catholic faith! (That notion itself denies the plain testimony of
John the Apostle and Paul’s testimony to the Eucharist as the literal Body and
Blood of Our Lord!) On top of this inexcusable misrepresentation our Bishop
adds another: he also claims that since Smiga still maintains that Christ is
“present in the Eucharist” that he is representing true Catholic Faith! Lutheran’s
also claim “Christ is present” in their Eucharist. Does the Bishop really
believe “Christ’s presence” is all there is to the Catholic view? God have
mercy on this Bishop whose conscience must by now be almost killing him.

I do not know what our Bishop
really believes.He desperately needs our prayers. But lest we put the
blame entirely on our Bishop, our wayward priests and religious, I am coming to
the conclusion that a very large majority of Catholics in this diocese,
including a majority of those who boast of their orthodoxy and loyalty to the
Church and the Pope, are equally (if not mostly) responsible for the
chaos and disorder we find in this Diocese and that we collectively deserve no
more than the leadership we have gotten. It is God who gives us our leaders
and it is God who keeps them there until He knows we deserve better! I
am convinced the hypocrisy, the self-centered complacency of orthodox
Catholics themselves is the primary fuel for the growth of dissidence in this
diocese. I believe God’s people need a severe chastening in this Diocese and
God is using FutureChurch as part of that chastening.

Except
for a handful of loyal supporters and those of you who earnestly pray and
distribute to others our literature where is everybody else who have even
admitted we are the “only ones” doing anything about this problem? How many of
you have approached your pastor about putting the Diocese FutureChurch
disclaimer in the Bulletin? What is keeping so many good Catholics on the side
lines? We know what it is. Lack of love, selfish indifference (the “let
George do it” attitude), spirits of judgmentalism and divisiveness and pride.
How many have left this effort because of some petty difference. Well, let us
forget these (with a hope they will soon rejoin us), and make sure we allow God
to remove all of these things in our own lives that still remain. The
key in accomplishing God’s work is never what others do but what we are
allowing God to do in us! We will see things change when we begin first to see
our own hearts changed by Holy and Divine Love! Yes, that is a process--and a
difficult one at that.

What’s
next? What is Holy and Divine Love now requiring of us? I would say at least
the following:

1.Get a copy of the Smiga presentation and listen to it so you can be certain that my
summary accurately presents his views.Then

2.Call the Bishop’s office
and let the Bishop know that to say the first Church did not have an altar, a
sacrifice or a priest is pure heresy and that if he cannot at least
publicly expose this attack on the Church he should immediately resign.Fr. Smiga did not say the first Church was merely
not aware of these elements, he says they did not have them! (To
even claim the Apostles and the first Church was not aware that they were
literally eating the Sacrificial Body and Blood of the Christ is also pure
hogwash as Jesus made the truth plain to the Apostles [John 6] and Paul clearly
reiterates that testimony in I Corinthians 11:23-29!) LOVE for our Bishop,
the Church and the Lord requires that we inform, counsel and even rebuke
those who need it!

3.Call the offices of
each Auxiliary Bishop and Rev. Wiatrouski (They have all now
received full documentation on the Smiga presentation) and urge them to prevail
upon the Bishop to publicly condemn Fr. Smig’s presentation and require
an immediate retraction or removal from the Seminary and St. Noel’s
parish.

4.Share your
documentation and our summary sheet with your priest and ask him where he
stands. Then let us know the results!! (Ask him ALSO to put
the Diocesan FutureChurch disclaimer in his Bulletin!)

CD or audio Cassette
tape of the Smiga presentation is available post-paid for a donation of
$5 for each recording. Included with this comes our one page summary of
the presentation, the FutureChurch flyer promoting this event
and the Introductory prayers/songs used in the meeting. A copy
of the Bishop’s letter will also be included if you request it.